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The INDEPENDENT, November 1, 2007
The
INDEPENDENT
Published on the first and third Thursdays of each month by
The Independent, LLC, 725 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064.
Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410.
Publisher Clark McGaugh, clark@the-independent.net
Editor Rebecca McGaugh, rebecca@the-independent.net
Assoc. Editor Noni Andersen, noni@the-independent.net
Opinion
What is the proper role of
the media in government?
At the last council meeting, The Independent and it’s
publisher, Clark McGaugh, were assaulted with name
calling, accusations, and complaints of lies, rumors and
negativity in The Independent , while never giving any
specifics of the alleged lies, rumors or bad behaviors.
Councilor Shirlee Daughtry stated during the council’s
improper executive session (see story page 1) on Oc-
tober 15, “He just doesn’t get it,” referring to publisher
Clark McGaugh.
What the accusers and complainers don’t seem to
“get” is the role and responsibilities of The Indepen-
dent.
While we would prefer not to have any negative news
or information in our paper, our first responsibility is to
the citizens of our community. The First Amendment to
the United States Constitution provides that “Congress
shall make no law…abridging the freedom…of the
press.” This provision now protects the press from all
government, whether local, state or federal.
The founders of the United States enacted the First
Amendment to distinguish their new government from
that of England, which had long censored the press
and prosecuted persons who dared to criticize the
British Crown. As Supreme Court Justice Potter Stew-
art explained in a 1974 speech, the "primary purpose"
of the First Amendment was "to create a fourth institu-
tion outside the government as an additional check on
the three official branches" (executive, legislative and
judicial).
The U.S. media today is frequently known as the
Fourth Estate, an appellation that suggests the press
shares equal stature with the three branches of govern-
ment created by the Constitution.
What’s that mean? It means it is our job is to be a
watchdog for the public over the government. In addi-
tion to providing useful information to the public, we are
responsible for making sure your local government (City
Hall) is doing business legally and in the best interests
of the public. Oregon has open government laws that
say that the running of government should be open,
public and transparent. That’s why we request informa-
tion and let you, the public, know when we don’t “get” it.
Just doing our job!
Ike Says…
By Dale Webb, member
Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League
Recently I came across
an article written in the
Vernonia Freedom, No-
vember 20, 1980. The ar-
ticle was about the Ver-
nonia sewage lagoons
and why the state DEQ
had placed a building
moratorium on new con-
struction in town. I re-
member the moratorium back then, because I
was in line to get one of the new sewer permits
when it was lifted. The article basically noted
the lagoon system was not big enough to handle
all the sewage and that during the winter, raw
sewage was being dumped into the Nehalem
River. During the summer months the lagoons
would go anaerobic and that’s when we would
get the great smell. What I found really interest-
ing was a few interesting statements to the re-
porter by Larry Burright, a member of the sewer
committee, who said “The solution is a second
lagoon, to be built next to the present one. The
reason for another lagoon, is to further treat the
sewage and expand the capacity another 800
hookups. According to the Vernonia Compre-
hensive Plan, that should last us another 20
years.” The article continued with, “Burright
doesn’t blame the council for their inaction in the
past three years. The council had been waiting
for International Paper, who owns that land, to
donate it. I’m not saying they are wrong. If this
was a profitable year, I’m sure International Pa-
per would have given it to us in a minute as a tax
write-off. But this isn’t a good year. The city
should either buy the land at the assessed value
of $1,800 an acre or condemn it and buy it
through the courts.” The real eye opener in the
whole article though was the following state-
ment: “The sooner we get the new lagoon, the
sooner we can build again. Once the city ac-
quires the land it will take 30 days to complete
the lagoon. We have a great deal with the con-
struction contract, too. The whole works will be
taken care of by Randall and Sons of Estacada
for $38,000.” Gee, I wish we had had a little
more vision back then for, at the prices we were
paying for things, the debt we are currently faced
with would have been paid off a long time ago.
The question now is, do we have that vision to-
day or is another building moratorium going to
be needed to spur us along? What do they say
about history repeating itself?
I was recently approached by Fred Oviatt,
who is a security officer for Weyerhaeuser and
Hancock timberlands. As you all know the sur-
rounding timberland owners are gracious
enough to allow motorized access onto their
lands during certain hunting seasons when the
fire danger is low. While access has been more
restrictive in recent years, access is still allowed.
During this year’s deer rifle season Weyer-
haeuser and Hancock have allowed weekend
motor vehicle access and, hopefully, during elk
Please see page 3